Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Pilaf

Instant Pot Rice Pilaf recipe loaded with chicken and vegetables is perfect healthy comfort food for a crowd that is easy to make. This homemade All-in-One-Pot meal will be ready in under 30 minutes.

If you own an Instant Pot, you already appreciate its ability to cook delicious meals in short period of time. What usually takes 2-3 hours to make a classic chicken and rice pilaf, can be done in an Instant Pot in less than 20 minutes. Plus, everything is cooked in one pot and there is no need to have a load of dirty dishes!

Since I got my Instant Pot, I made a lot of different versions of pilaf, using different types of meat and rice. My favorite ones are the following, Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Pilaf, and Brown rice with Beef Tips. They both are prepared using quite similar techniques but with different cooking times. And they both taste amazing!

What is Rice Pilaf?

There are so many ways how people prepare Rice Pilaf in different countries. However, usually it’s cooked in broth with meats and vegetables on low heat for a couple of hours. It’s a great meal that you can cook in one pot for a crowd!

When you cook it in Pressure Cooker, it allows you to reduce the cooking time significantly, while keeping all the ingredients moist and well cooked.

How to make Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Pilaf

I like to dice chicken breast in 1×1 inch cubes. Season it with salt, black pepper and cajun. Set your Instant Pot to Sauté on high heat by pressing “sauté” button twice. I like to brown the chicken in two batches, not to overcrowd the pot. Otherwise, your chicken will boil in released juices instead of sautéing to achieve a beautiful golden color. So, sauté each batch of diced and seasoned chicken for about 5 minutes until it has a beautiful golden color. The chicken doesn’t need to be cooked through, since we are going to cook it again with rice.

After the chicken is browned, scoop it out to a different bowl. Now it is time to sauté onions and carrots. It also will take about 5 minutes, until the onion gets a nice golden color and carrots soften. Turn off the sauté function, by pressing the button “cancel”.

Add chicken to the pot and mix it together with vegetables. Add chickpeas on top, DO NOT STIR. Then add rinsed rice on top of the chickpeas, DO NOT STIR!

Cut off the bottom of the garlic head and press in into the rice. Add chicken stock, and season with a little bit more salt and pepper.

Time to cook!

Cover with a lid and cook on Manual high pressure for 12 minutes (I know that in the video I have 13 minutes, but 12 will be better). Make sure that the venting knob is turned to “Sealing”!

When it is done, let it naturally release the pressure for 5-7 minutes. Then switch the knob to venting position to release the steam. Make sure the steam is fully released and the valve is completely down before opening the pot!

After you open the lid, remove the garlic head. Mix the chicken and rice, add parsley, and mix again.

Enjoy you delicious Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Pilaf!

Comment bellow if you have questions about the recipe or if you want to share your experience! I would love to hear your opinion!)

Instant Pot Rice Pilaf recipe loaded with chicken and vegetables is perfect healthy comfort food for a crowd that is easy to make. This homemade All-in-One-Pot meal will be ready in under 30 minutes.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Mediterranean

Keyword: Instant Pot Chicken and Rice

Servings: 6people

Calories: 315kcal

Author: Veronika's Kitchen

Ingredients

1poundchicken breast, diced

1teaspoonsalt

1/2teaspoon black pepper

1teaspoon cajun

1tablespoonvegetable oil

1large onion, diced

2large carrots, diced julienne style

1can(15.5 oz) chickpeas

2cupsrice (rinsed)

1garkic head, cut off the bottom

2 1/2 cupschicken stock

1cupparsley, chopped

Instructions

Dice chicken breast in 1x1 inch cubes. Season it with salt, black pepper and Cajun.

Set Instant Pot to Sauté on high heat by pressing “sauté” button twice. Sauté chicken in two batches for about 5 minutes, until golden color. After the chicken is done, scoop it out to a different bowl.

Add diced onion and carrots to the pot and sauté for about 5 minutes until the onion gets a nice golden color and carrots soften. Turn off the sauté function, by pressing the button “cancel”.

Add chicken to the pot and mix it together with vegetables. Add chickpeas on top, DO NOT STIR. Then add rinsed rice on top of the chickpeas, DO NOT STIR!

Cut off the bottom of the garlic head and press it into the rice. Add chicken stock, and season with a little bit more salt and pepper.

Cover with a lid and cook on Manual high pressure for 12. Make sure that the venting knob is turned to “Sealing”!

When it is done, let it naturally release the pressure for 5-7 minutes. Then switch the knob to venting position and release the steam. Make sure the steam is fully released and the valve is completely down before opening the pot!

After you open the lid, remove the garlic head. Mix the chicken and rice, add parsley, and mix again.

Enjoy!

Recipe Video

Nutrition Facts

Instant Pot Chicken and Rice Pilaf

Amount Per Serving

Calories 315Calories from Fat 54

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 6g9%

Saturated Fat 1.4g7%

Cholesterol 59.3mg20%

Sodium 793.1mg33%

Total Carbohydrates 39.1g13%

Dietary Fiber 5.5g22%

Sugars 5.1g

Protein 25.9g52%

Vitamin C18%

Calcium10%

Iron14%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

If you make this recipe, I would love to see your pictures on Instagram and Facebook! Please use hashtag #VeronikasKitchen

I plan to make this tomorrow but I would like to use a wild rice mix. ANy suggestions on cooking time alterations? Thank 🙂 Pilaf is a special dish for us, on the arrival of our first daughter, our neighbors brought it over to us the night we got home. It looked just like your picture and was so tasty! That was 9 years ago and I still remember it. I’m very anxious to try this. I also already have cooked chicken in the fridge so I may just add it after cooking the rice and all else in then… Read more »

Hi Rachel! I’m glad you are making this recipe! Wild rice and regular white rice have different cooking time. I never cooked wild rice before in the Instant Pot, but would assume it needs about 15-20 minutes. Which is too much for chicken, it will be too dry. There are two options I would suggest: 1. Use chicken thighs instead of chicken breast. Brown it as well, then do everything according to the recipe. 2. Use beef tips instead of chicken breast, like in this recipe: https://veronikaskitchen.com/instant-pot-brown-rice-pilaf/ Let me know how it came out!)

I am allergic to Chick peas but really want to make this recipe. My first IP meal. Is there anything else that I can use to replace the chickpeas with? I know the chickpeas Linda lot of moisture to the recipe so I want to make sure that I replace it with something that’s equal. Any suggestions that you have would be great thank you.

That is awesome to know Veronika!!! Oh yeah (palm to head moment), frozen peas, carrots or corn. I’d love both…hubby would prefer corn! Thank you so much for your quick response and amazing selection of recipes.

I am allergic to Chick peas but think this recipe sounds amazing. Can I replace the chick peas with something else? Theres a lot of moisture there and I don’t want to mess up my first IP meal. Any suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

I made this tonight and it came out beautifully! I think I used a bit too much parsley and feel like it needed a little a something so squeezed a bit of lemon juice on after serving. It’s great-and the chickpeas are a surprisingly nice addition!

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Hi and welcome to my food blog, Veronika’s Kitchen!
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